Author Archives: pantsukudasai56

Anime You Should Be Watching: Sailor Moon

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With the recent announcement, it’s fitting that the anime being recommended today is of the best known magical girl series in the US, and possibly the world, Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon is one of those rare anime that can be considered legendary.  Years from now, people will likely have forgotten the latest fanservice filled fluff show (not that there’s anything wrong with them) but consider that it’s been nearly 10 years since Sailor Moon has had any exposure on television, and it’s still one of the most beloved franchises ever.  Sailor Moon, along with Dragon Ball Z, and Gundam Wing, can be credited with really kick starting the anime boom of the late 90’s, early 00’s here in the US.  This was all thanks to Cartoon Network putting them on what was then a prime cartoon block, Toonami.  Unlike the current version of Toonami, which airs in the wee hours and only on Saturday, this block was shown Monday – Friday and during the after school afternoon hours.  Millions would rush home to tune in and watch these crazy “new” cartoons from Japan.  But Sailor Moon had already gotten a foothold in the US.  It wasn’t nearly as successful, but a full 3 years prior to its appearance on Toonami, it had arrived on syndicated broadcast.  Sadly, due in large part to poor time slots, the show didn’t have the success that was hoped.  But that all changed when Turner broadcasting picked up the rights and eventually put it on the Toonami block.  The rest is history.

The show itself wasn’t particularly unique.  The magical girl genre had existed before Sailor Moon, and unfortunately, it didn’t see a major boost after Sailor Moon.  One might think that Sailor Moon was just the right show at the right time, but such a thought would be a great disservice to the story that was crafted by Naoko Takeuchi.  Her story of a young girl growing up from a crybaby to a strong young lady is one that is still enjoyable to this day.  It emphasizes the importance of friendship and teamwork, and the cast of characters is largely so likeable that you can’t help but root for them.  Even some of the villains turn out to be sympathetic characters from certain viewpoints.  The fact that the show got 5 seasons, 200 episodes plus 3 movies a handful of specials and OAVs, a live action show, and 25 musicals, is a testament to its popularity.

Why you should watch:

This is overall just a thrilling series to watch.  Deep down you know that good is going to triumph, that Sailor Moon will come out on top, but when you’re in the moment, sometimes you just don’t know!  A prime example is in the first season.  Normally I try to avoid spoilers in my posts, but this is a 20 year old franchise.  Still, spoilers ahead.  Ready?  I warned you.  Ok, in the climactic battle in the first season, all the Sailor Soldiers except for Sailor Moon herself die.  Don’t worry!  They get better.  Even though the butchered English dub version goes to great lengths to edit their deaths out, somehow you just know that they died.  In the original version, you clearly see their heroic deaths, and it leaves such an impact that it’s a shame it was edited out.  While character deaths aren’t uncommon in anime being broadcast in Japan, it was almost unheard of for a children’s show to have that kind of content here in the US.  That kind of uncertainty leaves you on the edge of your seat.  The battles between the Sailor Soldiers and the villains are just that compelling, and neither side comes across as being much more overpowered than the other.  The cast of characters is large enough to where you can find someone that you want to root for, and someone you can’t help but hate (I’m looking at you, Chibi Usa!).  It runs the whole gamut of emotions, from happiness to sadness and everything in between.  When a show can make you feel something for the characters, especially an animated show, then you know it’s been done right.

Why you shouldn’t watch:

Playing Devils Advocate is difficult for me, because if I say you should watch it, then frankly I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to.  However, this is first and foremost an anime for girls.  And it’s made for younger girls than I’d wager a good amount of our readership is.  The show, especially in the early episodes, spends a decent amount of time with some of our heroines having stars in their eyes, dreaming about boys.  It’s very pink, and it’s very sparkly, and I certainly wouldn’t judge any guys who just can’t stand that much girly stuff. (wimps)  Also, it is 200 episodes long, so this isn’t nearly as tightly written as the manga.  There are a lot of episodes featuring a “monster of the week”, basically a one shot monster that is an underling to the main villians which is there just to be dispatched by our heroines.  The show could easily have been condensed down to 1/3 or so of the episodes and still told the same story.  So the original should only be tackled by those that have a lot of spare time.  200 episodes isn’t something you can tackle in just one sitting.

With the announcement of a new Sailor Moon project, while there’s only speculation at this point, the prevailing thought is a more accurate to the source material version with much of the filler cut out will be in the works.  Much like what Dragon Ball Z did with Dragon Ball Z Kai.  Along with Kodansha releasing the Sailor Moon manga here, this is looking to be a new golden age for Sailor Moon.  Whether or not the new anime will be able to recapture the magic from the first is unknown, but you owe it to yourself to familiarize yourself with the original, and find out just why it was so responsible for a generation of girls and boys becoming anime fans.  And I’ll end this now with a word from our main heroine:

Anime You Should Be Watching: Bakemonogatari

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Honestly, I try to keep this column a surprise to Arleigh.  I hate when the owner of this site knows exactly what I’m going to post.  However, with the recent announcement from Aniplex USA that they will be releasing this title on BluRay, I can’t very well ignore this awesome title any longer.

The problem with this title is, it’s very hard to talk about without spoiling things.  Every girl here has a very important story to tell.  The overarching story here is how our protagonist, Koyomi Araragi, interacts with the various girls in the series.  The thing is, every girl has her own problem that he must solve.  Since I hate spoilers as much as the next guy or girl I’ll refrain from going too in depth to what everyone has to overcome.  The best parts would have to be Mayoi Hachikuji and Suruga Kanbaru.  Luckily for all, the BluRay of this series will be available later on this year from Aniplex America.  Really, nothing else could do this series justice than a BluRay release, so I cannot help but be thrilled for this.  What I can say about this is that you need to be prepared to do a lot of reading.  People say that this is a very wordy title, and while I don’t necessarily agree with them in the fact that they think the dialog comes fast and furious, I do agree that the dialog is the most important aspect of the show.  There is a lot of Japanese puns and wordplay involved, and this title is not for the newly initiated to the anime scene.  Those that are used to reading subtitles won’t have too much trouble keeping up, but this is certainly not a title one can passively watch and expect to fully understand.

The thing to keep in mind is that if this show seems strange, by anime standards, it probably has a lot to do with the director.  It’s directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, who also directed the very unconventional Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and his influence is easily seen in both.  There’s not a lot of action in Bakemonogatari but the visual imagery is classic Shinbo.  He makes full use of a lot of surreal backgrounds during long conversations, so instead of letting things get stale with long stretches of just the characters standing around talking, which as I said before they do a lot, he’ll at least have the background flashing by and changing often during those times.  On one hand, it’s certainly a cost saving measure since they didn’t have to animate the characters, but more importantly it makes it seem like something is actually happening, even when it’s really not.  In a visual medium like anime, nothing bores people more than just staring at the same thing for long periods of time, so this helps keep any feelings of boredom from setting in.  For a show without a lot of action, to be able to keep it from feeling dull is where you need a talented director, and Shinbo truly shines in this case.

So what worked with this anime?  Well, it has attractive and interesting characters.  Each story draws you in and makes you want to see what happens next.  While you assume that each girl will have her problem solved, this is a Shinbo show, so there are no guarantees that the problem will be solved, or even if it is that it won’t create further problems.  And that’s part of the fun of this series, expecting the unexpected.

What didn’t work?  Well, if you want lots of action and explosions in your anime, you’ll find little to none of that here.  This is a very character driven show, so if you find you dislike or don’t care about some or even all of the characters, then you won’t find much here of value.

All in all this was a pleasant surprise to me when I watched it.  The light novels it was based on have been very popular, but since I don’t follow the light novel scene very closely, this was unexpectedly good.  If you want an anime that draws you in and keeps you hooked with a compelling story, then look no further than Bakemonogatari.

Anime You Should Be Watching: High School DxD

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So, I’ve noticed that with the few anime recommendations I’ve posted about, I’ve actually kept it quite classy, or at the very least the shows have merit.  Aria, classy.  Higurashi, well written.  Ika Musume, good clean fun.  High School DxD is the exact opposite of all those.  Hey, I’m a guy with an avatar of a girl flashing her panties.  It would be very remiss of me if I didn’t write about a fanservice anime once in awhile!

So, the general premise of High School DxD is that the protagonist, Issei, enters high school with one goal in mind.  It’s not to be the top student, or a star athlete, oh no, he has far more loftier goals.  His desire is to be the Harem King.  And his goal is off to a good start when a beautiful girl asks him to be her boyfriend right away.  Then the goal gets sidetracked a bit, because on their first date she reveals that she’s a fallen angel and promptly kills him.  Sounds like the shortest anime ever, I know, but that’s where the story really starts.  See, he is then revived by the president of the Occult Club, a buxom redhead named Rias Gremory, who also turns out to be the daughter of a prestigious demon clan.  How prestigious?  Well, her brother is Lucifer.  Yup.  Anyways, Issei is apparently important because he contains some lost relic or something or another in him.  His arm can turn into some kind of device.  Whatever, that’s not terribly important.  What is important is that Issei was revived, but not as a human, rather he is now a demon too.  And while he may have lost his humanity, he’s gained something much more important.  His harem!  You see, in addition to Rias, there are also the lovely Akeno Himejima, the delicious Koneko Tojo, and the later addition of the kind, but a little dim Asia Argento.  Also, there’s another guy, but he’s about as important here as Itsuki Koizumi is in the Haruhi Suzumiya series.  Each character represents a piece on a chess board, which also indicates their abilities.  Rias is obviously the King, Akeno with her overwhelming magic power is the Queen, Asia with her healing powers is the Bishop, Koneko with her super strength is the Rook, Yuto (unimportant dude) is the Knight, and Issei is the Pawn.

So, what works in this series?  Well, there’s the panty shots and the boobs.  What more is needed?  The budget for this, while not of the Studio Ghibli variety, was certainly consistent at least, since the character models don’t suffer from episode to episode in quality like a lot of series tend to.  It seems a lot of care was taken to make the characters look appealing, and it shows.  Yes, there is a lot of cheesecake here, but it’s good cheesecake.  Sometimes that’s all you need to have a fun series, and in this case it works.  Also, I found it very refreshing that the protagonist in a harem anime comes straight out and declares that he wants a harem.  I love my harem anime as much as the next guy, but I do tend to get tired of bland, milquetoast males who flounder about and act all scared to death when a member of the opposite sex even talks to him, let alone accidentally flash her breasts.  Here, Issei makes no bones about the fact that he’s a pervert and proud of it.  And most of the girls are fine with it too!  Surprisingly the only one that really isn’t is the kuudere, Koneko.  Usually that kind of character is rather indifferent, but she’s very much against Issei’s perverted ways.

So what didn’t work?  Well, the story, or rather the fact that it’s like the show had ADD and couldn’t decide what it wanted to do.  First off they’re fighting fallen angels.  But they kind of stop that midway without really a whole lot of closure and suddenly switch to going after the Church.  Then that kind of gets pushed aside for another crack at the angels.  Then without really being done with either, they’re fighting another demon clan.  This was based off a light novel series that’s still ongoing, so I’m more forgiving towards that, but it still makes it tough to get any continuity going, nor is the ending very satisfying.  I don’t pay attention to viewing numbers or DVD/BD sales in Japan, so I’m not sure how well received this show was, but it’s definitely set up for a second season.  The light novel series seems to be popular enough, since there are 12 volumes out since it started in 2008, and it’s still ongoing.  So, perhaps enough fans will have tuned in to get it the second season I feel it deserves.  If this is all we get, well it’s good pervy fun, but I feel it could be a bit more than just that if allowed to continue on.

Finally, this show has probably the best ending sequence I’ve seen in an anime in a very long time.  The song is typical upbeat Jpop, but the accompanying video is something that one must watch to fully appreciate.

With that in mind, I’m sure there’s little doubt as to why I felt compelled to post this up and give a recommendation for a show to watch when you just want to see some panties flashed and some boobs jiggle.  Because hey, who hasn’t had a day like that?

AMV of the Day: A Little Late

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Usually Arleigh handles this sort of post.  And he did just post one yesterday, so I’m glad he’s taking up the slack that I’ve made.  I mean, ostensibly I was brought on board to handle all things anime.  Anyways, for once I’m actually going to post up something anime related.

Let me say this about this video.  I’m as manly as manly gets.  I kiss puppies and kick babies.  Kill the women and children first!  But even this video brings me to tears.  Funny story, I was sitting in Burger King today, this song started playing over the speakers, and scene for scene I could recall this AMV.  Heck, you don’t even have to be familiar with this anime to get the emotional impact (ef – a tale of melodies.  Watch it now!)  But you know, it really wouldn’t hurt you to watch both ef- a tale of memories and ef – a tale of melodies (didn’t I just mention that?  Yes, yes I did).  Both would help you get the full impact of this AMV.  But either way, can you really watch this video and not feel anything?  If so, then you’re a stronger man than I.  And since there is no stronger man than I, then you are a liar.  And since you’re a liar, no one cares what you think or say!  My logic is flawless.  Enjoy the video!  Full credit goes to Dragon Roy and the AMV contest at Anime Boston.

Anime: Ef – a tale of melodies

Song: “You Found Me” by The Fray

Creator: Dragon Roy

Best anime of 2011

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With the year rapidly coming to a close, and the apocalypse soon to be upon us, I thought it would be a good time to make my pick for the one anime of the year that if you watch no other, you should at least watch this.

There were many worthy candidates this year.  From top notch dramas like Ano Hi Mita no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (or AnoHana for short) to very solid slice of life shows like Hanasaku Iroha and Usagi Drop, comedies like the second season of Ika Musume, and Working!!, to more thoughtful fare like Fate/Zero, all these and more could and deserve to be delved into more in depth.  Perhaps I’ll manage to do that at some point.  But as good as these and other shows this year were, there is one title that stands out from the crowd.  I speak of a little show called Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

This is a difficult show to talk about without spoiling things, so I’ll try and be careful to avoid dropping any huge bombs about the show, but a few things do need to be brought up.  First off, don’t let the images fool you.  This show takes the cutsey magical girl genre, and drags it through the darkness, permanently staining it.  It starts off very standard, where you have our titular heroine, Madoka, saving the traditional mascot character Kyubey from harm.  From there, she’s and her friend Sayaka are introduced to another Magi, Mami, and then another character, Homura, shows up and plays the role of chief rival/antagonist.  All sounds like every other magical girl show you’ve seen, or heard about, yes?  Well, you get a feel for what this show is really like with the events in episode 3.  It’s something that should definitely be experienced firsthand to get the best impact out of it.  I had it spoiled for me prior, because people are jerks like that, but even knowing what was going to happen didn’t make it any less shocking, so I can only imagine how people who saw it for the first time without any inkling of what was going to happen felt.

After that episode, things continue to follow along a very tragic storyline, and you can pretty much feel the sorrow that everyone experiences.  In a lot of cases, when anime has these tragic storylines, the emotions can feel cheap and manipulative.  But with this, even though they of course WANT you to feel that way, you end up feeling that way without it seeming like you were forced into it.  When each of the girls find out the truth behind what they’re doing, you get a range of believable emotions, from sadness, to anger, to despair.  This isn’t the typical reaction where a plucky young girl tries her best with a never say die attitude and prevails against all odds.  Things don’t go as the heroine wishes, and in fact the show seems destined to end with the complete opposite of a happy ending.  Even the ending itself is debatable as to how happy of an ending it really was.  And I think that’s a refreshing change of pace.  Madoka ends in a way where you could take it as being a happy type ending, or you could view it from another person’s perspective as having lost something important.  There does remain a tiny glimmer of hope, but it’s one that could easily be extinguished.

While the story written by Gen Urobuchi is the real meat and potatoes, the art and animation is certainly worthy of calling this the best anime of 2011.  The character designs were done by Ume Aoki, who has a very distinctive style as seen in her previous works such as Hidamari Sketch.  They’re typically characterized by wide faces and large eyes, even by the standards of anime, which lends a nice contrast to the seriousness of the show.  People in the know also were a bit more prepared for the direction the show took, since it was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, who has some amount of note for taking shows in different directions and using a lot of surreal imagery.  And that is very evident in scenes where the girls are fighting against the witches.  The backgrounds look as though they’re walking through a Dali painting.  It’s a very effective blending of animation and CGI.  Plus the fluidity of the animation in the battle scenes shows that no corners were cut in any aspect of production.  The musical score is also done by well known composer Yuki Kajiura, whose tracks set the perfect mood for each scene.

While there is no one universal title that everyone everywhere will point to and say “This is a masterpiece!” Puella Magi Madoka Magica is definitely a title that people shouldn’t just write off as yet another tired old magical girl show and should give it a fair chance.  Tastes are always subjective, but this is one that you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you missed seeing it.

Anime You Should Be Watching: Ika Musume

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Today is a rarity for two reasons. First off, I went and watched a highly anticipated movie, Captain America, BEFORE Arleigh went and saw it. Since live action stuff isn’t the sort of thing I care to review, I have no intentions of doing so here (probably obvious by the title) but it is a very good movie and people should go watch. Secondly, I’m actually making a post! Yes, I am still a contributor to this site, I’m just not a very dedicated one. But today, I submit before you all that if you have not yet seen the awesomeness that is Ika Musume, then you have just been missing out on one of the best anime of 2010.

The basic premise goes as such. Ika Musume, or Squid Girl (the name given to her in English adaptations, which is what her name translates to, but I just prefer Ika Musume) comes to land to punish humans for their constant polluting of the oceans. Now, people that know me know how much of an anti-environmentalist I am, so even though this sounds like enviro-hippie bullcrap, needless to say things do not go exactly as planned. First off, she’s far too adorable to be taken seriously as a conqueror. You tell me, would you at all fear this?

Of course you can’t, and of all the people she meets, only one person actually takes her threat seriously.  Because no one other than that one girl seems to be at all bothered that there is an anthropomorphic squid in their midst.  In fact, Ika Musume surfaces and subsequently tries to invade a beach house run by three siblings, Eiko, her older sister Chizuru, and their younger brother Takeru who instead of being fearful of her immediately put her to work to repair damage that she did to their restaurant.  And Ika Musume doesn’t seem capable of staying on track for very long, because she almost immediately agrees and gets to work!  Her talents are immediately apparent, as she is able to carry 8 dishes or drinks at a time with her tentacles, and she also can produce plenty of squid ink, which is used to season spaghetti noodles.  I don’t know if that’s a Japanese specialty, or if that’s eaten in other cultures, but it’s apparently a hot seller there.

But eventually, Ika Musume does remember that her goal is to subjugate all of humanity.  So, what keeps her in check?  Ika Musume makes the mistake of threatening Eiko and Takeru, taking them hostage with her tentacles, and the normally mild mannered Chizuru shows a side you rarely see, where she becomes a combat specialist that would be the envy of any Navy SEAL.  Needless to say, after being shown that her life could be snuffed out in an instant, whenever Chizuru detects any rebellion out of Ika Musume, a simple glare is enough to set her back on track.

One thing that Ika Musume is very well known for is her distinctive speech pattern.  Long time anime veterans are likely familiar with characters having character specific traits.  In Kanon it was Ayu and her “uguu”.  In Rozen Maiden it was Suiseiseki and her “desu”.  Ika Musume brings the very appropriate “de geso” as the ending to almost all her sentences.  Geso literally translates to “arms of squid as food”, so you can see how it appropriate it is for her.  But me telling you about it just isn’t the same as experiencing it yourself, so without further ado, here is Ika Musume in all her de geso goodness.

I don’t know about all of you, but this is one invader that I’d welcome with open arms.  Thankfully, she’ll be back again when the second season begins airing this fall.  It can’t come a moment too soon for me de geso.

AMV of the Day: Something Fishy (Bumblebee Tuna AMV)

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I’ll readily admit, I’m not a huge fan of AMVs.  Don’t get me wrong, when they’re good, they’re really fun and entertaining to watch.  The thing is, 99% of AMVs suck.  Seriously, most of them are just a mashup of some fan’s favorite scenes from an anime put to a song they like that really don’t fit together.  But, the ones that are good, tend to be really good.  You can tell when someone takes the time and the effort to put together something that they can be proud of.

This AMV is one of those good ones.  There hasn’t been anyone yet that I’ve shown this to that hasn’t gotten hopelessly hooked on it.  It’s the perfect blend of a high energy song, clips that make sense with the words of the song, and really good editing.  It was made by JaddziaDax, but I’m not certain where it premiered at.  All I do know is that it is impossible to watch this and not wind up singing along on the subsequent playthroughs.  And there will be subsequent playthroughs.  The first time I watched it, I immediately had to play it again, and again, and before I knew it I was on my fifth consecutive viewing.  Now that’s a sign of a good AMV!  So, feel free to watch this, but just be forewarned, you might not be able to look at a can of Bumblebee Tuna without thinking of this AMV again.

Anime You Should Be Watching: Aria

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I realize that entertainment is very subjective.  One person’s masterpiece is another person’s trash.  Still, there are some anime that are just so good that no matter who you are, no matter what your interests, as long as you’re a fan of anime, you should be watching it.  The first example that comes to mind for me is a well received, yet fairly unknown title called Aria.

Now, I know what some people are thinking.  “Is there a lot of action?  Explosions?  Naked girls?  Blood and guts?  It’s at least fast paced, right?”  There is none of those, but you know what?  You’re still going to enjoy it anyways.  Thus is the power of slice-of-life shows.  There is no action at all, yet you’re left with a big smile on your face after each episode.

The story of Aria revolves around a young girl named Akari who leaves Manhome (Earth) and comes to the Martian city of Neo Venetia to become an Undine, or gondola pilot.  This is obviously modeled after the Italian city Venice, and in fact it is stated that in the realm of this anime, Venice has already sunk, which was the main motivation for the Martian terraformers in creating the town of Neo Venetia.  Much like the real life city of Venice, Neo Venetia’s streets are all waterways.  Of course they have normal walkways, but if you don’t feel like walking, or if you need to move goods around the town, traveling by gondola is the way to go.  When the anime starts, it begins with Akari already being a Single, but they later on show flashbacks to when she first arrived and started out as a Pair.

The terms Pair and Single refer to the gloves they wear.  The gloves are both practical and aesthetic.  When an Undine is wearing two gloves, it both signifies that she is an apprentice, and it’s also because when they’re just starting out, their hands require more protection from constantly rowing.  As a Pair, they are not allowed to carry passengers at all.  As they gain more experience, and as their hands get more used to the abuse that the oar gives, they can go down to one glove, hence the term Single.  Also, as a Single, they are allowed to carry passengers as long as a fully licensed Undine, or Prima, is in the gondola with them.  And obviously, once they reach the rank of Prima, they are fully qualified Undines and can carry passengers on their own.

Life on Mars is a little bit different than life on Earth.  The main difference is that cats are sentient beings on Mars.  They can’t speak English, but they appear to understand it.  Plus, all gondola companies on Mars must be owned by a blue eyed cat.  Akari’s company is owned by one President Aria, who fits in perfectly with Aria Company’s easy going attitude.

And that is a typical scene from the anime.  I know that shouldn’t be entertaining, but it just plain is.  Episodes revolve around such action packed events like delivering the mail, or going to a festival.  In other words, there’s no action at all.  It’s an incredibly serene show and is the perfect complement to watching other anime that ARE action packed.  It’s like a palate cleanser.  As such, I also don’t recommend marathoning the show, or else some of the luster and wonderment of it is lost.

The strong points of the anime are the high production values, which can be seen when viewing some of the lush backgrounds of the places that Akari visits.  It’s obvious that the show was given the proper budget, and that’s probably in no small part to the fact that it was helmed by director Junichi Sato who directed such popular and respected anime as Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu, Kaleido Star, and Sgt. Frog, among others.  Plus, unlike with a lot of anime these days, the decision to animate it didn’t come until after the manga had been running for awhile and thus had already gotten a good following.  Another factor in its high budget could possible come from just good timing.  The first Aria season came out when companies were still willing to take a chance on a show that’s a little different from the usual otaku bait.  Luckily it proved to be successful and it was allowed to tell its full story.

And that’s another strength, is the finely told story that Kozue Amano came up with.  When you don’t have flashy explosions and super powers and naked breasts bouncing around to keep people interested, you had better be able to tell a good story, and Kozue Amano did not disappoint.  When watching the anime or reading the manga, you get the feeling that you’re right there with Akari, and that you’re both exploring and experiencing things together.  It’s that kind of emotional attachment that’s crafted that makes for a good story.

Ultimately, I can’t promise that you’re going to be blown away by this.  Slice-of-life isn’t for everyone, but you certainly would be making a mistake if you didn’t at least give Aria a chance to wow you.  And who knows?  If you go into this with an open mind, you might just find, that for some inexplicable reason, that you have a huge smile on your face at the end and can’t wait for your next adventure in Neo Venetia.

Junichi Sato

Anime of the Decade

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Epic.  Has there ever been a word that has been run into the ground so much that it’s practically lost all meaning?  Pounding a bunch of noobs at Halo isn’t epic.  The meal you just had isn’t epic.  Anything that spawned from 4chan isn’t epic.  Do you know what does deserve the title of epic?  One Piece.  Make no mistake, I’m not saying One Piece is the greatest anime of all time.  However, the sheer scale of the story, and the high level of consistency maintained for 13 years and counting qualify One Piece to confidently call itself epic.

The story revolves around a boy named Monkey D. Luffy who’s goal is to become the King of the Pirates.  But Luffy is no ordinary boy.  He ate a Devil’s Fruit, which grant their users strange powers in exchange for losing the ability to swim or float.  Quite the handicap for someone who wishes to live their lives on the high seas to be sure.  Luffy’s particular fruit was the Gum-Gum fruit, which turns him into a rubberman, allowing his body to stretch to great lengths, and also making him immune to most projectile attacks.  The exception being anything with an edge to it.  So, while he can repel bullets and cannonballs, arrows would prove to be deadly to him.  But, Luffy is the sort who will just charge straight ahead, without fear for his own safety, and unleash all manner of attacks using his unique makeup.

But before you get to thinking that Luffy always kicks ass and takes names, make no mistake, he gets his ass handed to him.  A lot.  But a big part of Luffy’s strength is the fact that he doesn’t let adversity get him down.  He’s very much of the motto “If at first you don’t succeed, punch them even harder the next time!”  Unlike with some shows where the hero has to gain a new superpower to defeat a foe that just beat them, ala Dragon Ball Z, Luffy is often able to just come back and win without needing to rely on such things.  Granted, there are a few times where he has to come out with a whole new move, but it just feels so much more believable and causes you to roll your eyes less than with some other shonen fare like the aforementioned DBZ and Bleach.

Now, becoming the Pirate King is no easy task, and one couldn’t possibly do it all alone.  A lot of the charm of One Piece lies in the cast of characters that Luffy has for a crew.  To avoid any spoilers for anyone who is either just starting or plans to start, I won’t list the entire crew.  Heck, at the point where I’m at in the series, I think there have even been one or two more crew members added in the recent episodes that I don’t know about yet.  So, I’ll limit the crew to his pre-Grand Line bunch.

The first person to join Luffy on his adventures is Roronoa Zoro (some translations call him Zolo since L’s and R’s are interchangeable in Japanese, but Zoro just looks better to me) who is a swordsman that uses three katana when he fights, one in each hand and one in his mouth.

As I said, they don’t always win, and often get their ass handed to them pretty bad.  And this is a kid’s show!  Zoro usually is a fairly cool and collected type who doesn’t let Luffy’s idiotic nature get the best of him, and isn’t phased by many things they encounter no matter how bizarre, although no one is completely immune to Luffy’s nonsense.

The next member to join up with Luffy was Nami.  She was a thief who stole from pirates, although it was for a good reason and was one of my favorite arcs in the series.  She’s also an expert navigator who is capable of reading weather patterns and plotting the safest course through practically anywhere.

Nami has a love for treasure and money in general, and she’ll do most anything to get her hands on it.  However, she’s not much on fighting and will avoid it if it all possible.  After all, hard to spend money when you’re dead!  An interesting bit would be that Nami definitely, ummm, grows throughout the course of the show.  This is a picture of her in an early appearance:

Now compare that to one from later on in the series:

I guess Nami is just a growing girl, and I thank Oda for being the pervert that I assume him to be!

The next one to join the crew is probably my least favorite of them all, Usopp.  Maybe it’s his voice, or perhaps it’s his character design, or maybe I just don’t like his attitude.  Whatever the case, I don’t really care much for him.  Two things to know about Usopp, 1) He’s a liar and 2) he’s a coward.  He makes Nami look downright heroic with the extents he goes to stay out of any danger.  That’s not to say he won’t fight when the chips are down.  Luffy would never allow anyone who actually ran away from their duty on their crew.  Just that whenever he fights, he works best when he can use his lies and his considerable sniping skills.

The last of the crew I’ll mention here is their cook, Sanji.  Sanji can basically be summed up as a guy who just plain tries way too hard to get women.

Unfortunately for him, Nami can smell a chump like that a mile away, so she takes full advantage of it whenever she can.  Despite his obvious weakness for women, Sanji is a very good fighter, using kicks as his weapon as he believes a chef must not harm his hands.  However, he is very chivalrous, in that he refuses to ever kick a lady.  Obviously this is a bit of a handicap at times, as not every opponent they run into are men.  But, barring that, he doesn’t back down from a fight if one is picked with him.

These are the crew members that Luffy takes with him to the Grand Line.  Having only gotten up to episode 356 myself (the anime is at over 450 eps right now) I only know of 4 other crew members that join them after they reach the Grand Line, and that may have increased.  So, for the sake of giving people something to look forward to on their own, I won’t be introducing them.

As one can see, One Piece has a fairly unique character design.  This does take a little getting used to.  I held off on watching One Piece for years because of it, but they do grow on you after awhile.  Sure, the women have impossibly thin waists, and most of them have ridiculously large busts (thank you Oda!), but after awhile it stops bothering you and you are able to enjoy the story being told.  And what a story it is!  I can’t think of another series, anime, manga, or novel, that can run for so long and still be entertaining.  We’re talking 60 volumes, which is well over 400 chapters of material written over a 13 year time span.  For the anime, it’s currently on episode 480 and has been running for 11 years while maintaining consistently high ratings.  If I had to hazard a guess as to it’s lasting popularity, I’d say it’s Luffy’s enthusiasm and simplistic way of living.  He’s not some moody, woe-is-me type, nor is he fighting the forces of evil to save the world.  In fact, if you want to get downright technical, he is one of the forces of evil that is working to destroy the world.  At the core, this is about a pirate going up against the world government.  He may not pillage and kill townsfolk, but evil really is how you view it.  From the standpoint of the Marines, he is a criminal.  But for the countless people who he has helped in his quest to become the Pirate King, he’s a sort of folk hero.

I feel that this is the anime of the decade largely because of its enduring popularity.  It’s by far the highest selling manga of all time in Japan, having sold over 200 million copies.  Additionally, it holds the record for the most copies of a single book sold when volume 60 sold 3.4 million copies in it’s first print run alone, shattering the previous record set by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  In 2010, while an exact figure has not been made public, based on volumes sold and standard royalty agreements, it’s estimated that Eiichiro Oda made over $24 million.  That’s in one year, not over his lifetime.  That is an insane amount of money for a manga author.  And the thing is, success hasn’t made him lazy.  In the 13 years he’s been writing it the longest break he took was a 3 week break once, this year, and that was in part to set up the time skip he had planned.  And when you realize that he’s serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, which as the name implies is a weekly publication, the fact that he’s written chapters nearly every week for 13 years without jumping the shark is quite amazing.  Further, according to Eiichiro Oda, while he does have an ending planned, the manga is only halfway done.  60 compiled volumes, well over 500 chapters, spawning 480 anime episodes, 10 movies, plus various tv specials and it’s only halfway done?

The only word that can properly describe that is epic.

Anime You Should Be Watching: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Posted on by pantsukudasai56

Believe it or not, originally I was brought on to be the anime guy. Granted, I haven’t always been the most active of people, but that’s my natural laziness taking over. But with the season being what it is, and me having drank enough, allow me to enlighten everyone about one of the finer horror anime out there, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

Previously Arleigh had posted up another yandere classic, School Days. The Higurashi visual novel predates said visual novel by three years. The big difference is that while School Days was a fairly well funded project (with many, many bugs in it!) and Higurashi was basically a doujinshi project.

Let me explain doujinshi for a very little bit. A lot of people make the mistake that doujinshi instantly equals porn comics. Now, if you attend Comiket, which is the single largest doujinshi convention in Japan, you could be excused for thinking that it’s all about comics, and more importantly, comics that solely deal in erotic content. However, doujinshi basically just means “self published”. Again, not a literal translation. You want literal? Fine. The literal translation is “same person periodical publication”. Basically this can be taken to mean a project taken on by someone without the financial backing of the mainstream media. This could mean either comics, games, or even anime. Yes, the more common genre are the comics, but there is a fairly decent market for self published games. Higurashi falls under the blanket of the self published games. From a visual standpoint, they were very raw. In fact, there’s a very good reason why it gets criticized for having bun hands.

Compare that to the anime character art, and the difference is quite obvious.

But if you can get past the rough character designs,  (keep in mind that the true meat of the game comes from the story, not the graphics) then you’re in for a very good story with many a twist and turn along the way.

One thing I must say, based on the experiences I’ve had with people is that you should probably watch the anime first. Perhaps I’ve just been subjected to extremely rabid fans, but too many of them have an irrational hatred of the anime. I’ll accept that there is a chance the complaints are valid, because I have not personally played the visual novel (you play them, not read them. Trust me on this) but having seen all of the anime, even if the transition is not perfect, it’s still a fun watch that will keep you guessing right up until the answer arcs are shown.

Each arc starts out in a very light hearted manner, but make no mistake, this is a horror series at its core.  The fact that such cute girls are at the center of it all makes it seem all the more horrific, especially with the actions that are taken throughout the various arcs.  While it’s very difficult for anime to effectively show gore without getting to the ridiculous buckets of blood level, Higurashi manages to be very effective in its depictions of it, and some scenes are actually a bit shocking to see.

The thing is, you have to watch both seasons of the show, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, to get the true ending and find out the reason for all the happenings in the town of Hinamizawa during June of 1983, but it is well worth the time spent, and shows that anime can successfully pull off the horror genre.